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Bitget Releases MENA Investor Stats On Imminent Bitcoin Halving
The crypto exchange has conducted a study revealing MENA investors’ bullish sentiment on BTC, with 82% planning increased 2024 investments.
Renowned cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company Bitget has published an extensive study examining the imminent Bitcoin halving set for April 2024 and its potential impact on investment strategies.
The global investigation included the MENA region and revealed how investors felt about the upcoming Bitcoin halving event and the alterations they plan on making to their investment strategies.
Key Findings From The Bitget Study:
- 80% of MENA investors anticipate that the halving will substantially influence Bitcoin’s price, with 54% envisioning Bitcoin’s value fluctuating between the $30,000 to $60,000 range at the time of the halving.
- 88% of MENA participants think BTC will surpass its all-time high during the upcoming bull run.
- 82% of crypto investors residing in MENA countries intend to augment their investments in 2024, with merely 4% planning a reduction in crypto holdings.
The data suggests a sense of optimism among MENA investors, both in the short-term and long-term prospects of Bitcoin. Notably, MENA crypto enthusiasm outshines that of European investors, with only Latin American crypto enthusiasts being more bullish.
Turning attention to the post-halving era, MENA investors strongly agree that BTC will outperform its previous all-time high during the impending bull run. Despite resounding optimism, only 26% of MENA investors believe the cryptocurrency will reach the $100,000 mark within the current year.
Gracy Chen, Bitget’s Managing Director, commented: “The Bitget Study on BTC halving impacts provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency investment. The findings reflect a broad spectrum of expectations and investment plans, indicating that 2024 will be a significant year for the Bitcoin market”.
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Interestingly, investors in Eastern Asia, Western Europe, and Latin America display higher optimism about Bitcoin’s potential to reach the $100,000 to $150,000 range compared to their MENA counterparts. Nonetheless, a notable 11% of MENA investors remain even more optimistic, anticipating Bitcoin’s value to surge beyond the $150,000 threshold.
The study also unveils intriguing trends in investment plans for the year 2024. A substantial 82% of surveyed MENA investors intend to amplify their cryptocurrency investments this year, a figure that surpasses the global average of 70%.
News
Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict
Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.
Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.
“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.
The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.
The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.
Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.
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The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.
So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.
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